Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) Review
Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective in literature, was brought to the big screen for a modern adaptation several years ago. Guy Ritchie did a great job directing the film, especially by casting Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Watson respectively. After the first film received great reviews and a fantastic reception from fans everywhere, Ritchie brings Holmes back to the big screen in the second film, “A Game of Shadows” where Holmes and Watson square off against their mortal nemesis, Professor Moriarty. Read more
Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011) Review
I am a big fan of spy movies and action movies. I have always preferred the James Bond series over the Mission Impossible series. The reasons were simple, I was never really a big fan of Tom Cruise, and I just felt like the previous films were made poorly. Everything was predictable, the action sequences were a let down, and the films were unnecessarily cheesy and dry. I had only heard good things about the new MI film. It was supposed to rejuvenate the series and bring Tom Cruise back into the spotlight. While I was not totally disappointed with it, the movie certainly did not live up to its billing. Read more
In Time (2011) Movie Review
Everybody knows the old adage “Time is Money”. What if time literally was money? In the new science fiction thriller “In Time”, humans are biologically to live until the age of 25. Once you reach 25, your clock starts ticking. Everyone gets a free year to live on, but for most people, you have to work to earn more time on the planet. Coffee, beer, food, rent, everything is purchased using time. The poor live day to day, literally. If you run out of time, you die. The rich can live forever, in their own wealthy “time zones”, while the poor die in the streets because they’ve spent their last few minutes on a meal or the rent. It is an extremely interesting premise, but one that was difficult to execute effectively. Read more
Immortals (2011) Movie Review
As a mythology buff, I was eagerly anticipating the release of Immortals. It is based on Greek mythology, specifically, the story of Theseus. This movie was created by the same team that brought us the movie 300. The 300 movie was one of my favorites when it came out, and I was hoping that Immortals wouldn’t disappoint. Read more
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Review
Comic book movie adaptations generally fall into two categories. They are either horrible or are respectable adaptations that do justice to the comic books that preceded them. It doesn’t seem to matter how the movies are rated, the big name comic book movies always seem to do well at the box office. The majority of the Spider Man series was mediocre at best, yet at the time still set Hollywood box office records. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some excellent comic book movies. The Batman series has been excellent of late, and the Iron Man series is doing especially well. Regardless of execution or character, Spider man, Batman, Hulk, Thor, the X-Men, it doesn’t matter. Fans will go see the movies because they love the characters, and love the series. Captain America is a new addition to the world of comic book movie adaptations. Not as well known as Spiderman or Batman, Captain America was introduced to preclude Marvel’s new Avengers series. Read more
Killer Elite (2011) Movie Review
Anybody that is a fan of action movies these days has heard of Jason Statham. The bald, English bad ass has taken the North American action movie market by storm. Killer Elite sees Statham play the role of Danny, a retired S.A.S. member turned mercenary / hit man. After completing a job, he decides he’s had enough of the murderer for hire game. He calls it quits. His retirement would be short lived, as a pressing matter calls him back into action. Read more
Fan Expo Canada 2011
FanExpo Canada is a yearly event held in Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. It features the best of the worlds of comic books, science fiction / fantasy, horror movies / television, anime / collectible cards and video games. Last year’s event saw more than 60,000 people enter the convention center for a three day event. This year, the event was expanded to four days, and is likely to surpass over one hundred thousand fans. Read more
I was a Teenage Zombie (1987) – Movie Review
So as I said before, I watched a lot of preposterous crap when I was a kid. I’d pretty much just point at a movie and my dad would say, “OK,” and rent it for me. Let me give you the most perfect example of this: I was a Teenage Zombie (1987). Arguably one of the worst-done “horror” movies ever to hit the screen, and, because of this, one of the most entertaining. Abysmally edited, poorly acted, ridiculously written, badly lit – in short: a must see! Movies don’t get much worse, and, hence, more perfect to laugh at than this. It tries to combine horror with comedy in a way that only a cesspool like the 80s could produce, and, surprisingly, sometimes – sometimes – it’s funny on purpose. Read more
Fright Night (2011) Review
The first time I saw a horror movie I was four years old and it was The Shining on TV. It was in the midst of a family gathering, with a lot of relatives in the room, but they were too wrapped up with each other to notice what I was watching. For three years I had nightmares that those two girls were chasing me around that grand hotel. The first horror movie I watched by purposeful choice, was the fifth installment of Nightmare on Elm Street, entitled, The Dream Child. I was eight. I went on a horror-movie-watching binge shortly after that up until I was 12. I was obsessed, and I watched a lot of weird crap. I became very desensitized, and it became very hard to scare me, especially since a lot of horror movies seamed to be spoofing and parodying themselves. They quickly became a joke to me at a very young age. Read more
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Movie Review
The original Planet of the Apes movies were done well before my time. Back in 1968, a young Charlton Heston traveled to post apocalyptic earth to discover it was now run by gorillas, chimps, and orangutans. That began a successful string of films leading up to the 2001 Tim Burton remake of Planet of the Apes starring Mark Wahlberg. Fast forward to 2011. Anyone who had seen the original movies wondered how the Apes had taken over earth. The new film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, answers all of those questions, and foreshadows more prologues to the original films. Read more
